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American Morning

Western Wildfires Particularly Ravenous Past Two Years

Aired August 29, 2001 - 09:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Across the West, firefighters are on the lines battling more than two dozen major wildfires.

CNN's Mike Boettcher talked to some experts that said that the force themselves contain part of the blame.

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MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The hawks are fat in Southern Oregon, gorging themselves on rodents, and the helicopters are busy, taking their turn in the airborne bucket brigade. Wildfire has animals running for cover and man racing for answers. Why so many fires? What is make them so destructive? How to stop them?

Simply put, the forest may be a victim of Smoky the Bear.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only you can prevent forest fires.

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BOETTCHER: Decades of successful fire suppression have left the forest floor full of highly flammable small tree, blush and fallen branches. Firefighters call it fuel.

GREG GILPIN, INCIDENT COMMANDER, QUARTZ FIRE: We had flaming fronts that were hundreds and hundreds feet wide, and we flames somewhere 150-200 feet tall. That's a direct result of fuel.

BOETTCHER: Oshanna Katrimedez (ph) is part of a Southern Oregon project, trying to thin forest undergrowth in high fire risk areas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once it would hit a brushier area, as of out there, it would build its velocity, build its heat, because these smaller sticks and trees represent kindling that add coals and fuels to a fire, that make it hotter and more dangerous.

BOETTCHER: That is exactly what happened in the giant Courts Fire near the Oregon/Californian border. It burned almost 7,000 acres before it was contained.

The trend is not good. Last year wildfire burned about 8.5 million acres, more than double the average for the previous 10 years. This year's total, again is expected to easily surpass an average year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back in July, we had 186 fires. That's six fires a day, which is highly unusual for us.

BOETTCHER: Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, while inspecting the forest lines, was told his state could have its worst fire season on record. He believes it is not a statistical anomaly, and insists state and federal governments must make a huge investment to rid the nation's forest of built-up fuel.

(on camera): It's going to cost billions.

GOV. JOHN KITZHABER, OREGON: It's going to cost a lot more to just let these forests burn down in terms of loss of human life, in terms of loss of habit, in terms of loss of commercial timber.

(voice-over): The hawks are fat, the helicopters busy, while the fires below burn white hot.

Mike Boettcher, CNN, Medford, Oregon.

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